Before the Peace of Westphalia, enemy combatants captured by belligerent forces were usually executed, enslaved, or held for ransom.[1] This, coupled with the relatively small size of armies, meant there was little need for any form of camp to hold prisoners of war. The Peace of Westphalia, a series of treaties signed between May and October 1648 that ended the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War, contained a provision that all prisoners should be released without ransom. This is generally considered to mark the point where captured enemy combatants would be reasonably treated before being released at the end of the conflict or under a parole not to take up arms. The practice of paroling enemy combatants had begun thousands of years earlier, at least as early as the time of Carthage[2] but became normal practice in Europe from 1648 onwards. The consequent increase in the number of prisoners was to lead eventually to the development of the prisoner of war camps.

Neither Union or Confederate prison camps were always well run, and it was common for prisoners to die of starvation or disease. It is estimated that about 56,000 soldiers died in prisons during the war; almost 10% of all Civil War fatalities.[3] During a period of 14 months in Camp Sumter, located near Andersonville, Georgia, 13,000 (28%) of the 45,000 Union soldiers confined there died.[4] At Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois, 10% of its Confederate prisoners died during one cold winter month; and the 25% death rate at Elmira Prison in New York State very nearly equaled that of Andersonville's.[5]

Established in May 1861 and closed in 1865. The camp's original capacity was for 4,000 men, but at times more than 7,000 prisoners were accommodated. The capacity was increased to 7,000, but towards the end of the war up to 10,000 men were crammed into the facility.[6]

Known as "Andersonville of the North", Camp Douglas was established in January 1863 as a permanent POW camp; previously, it was an organizational and training camp for volunteer regiments of the Union Army. (It was actually a POW camp in early 1862, a training camp in late 1862, and become a permanent POW camp in early 1863). Camp Douglas eventually became notorious for its poor conditions and death rate of between 17% and 23% percent.[citation needed]

Originally established as Camp Rathbun, a training base, the site was converted to a prisoner of war camp in 1864 with a capacity for approximately 12,000 prisoners. Before its closure in 1865, 2,963 prisoners died there from various causes.[citation needed]

During the Boer Wars the British established concentration camps to hold both civilians and prisoners of war. In total 109 camps were constructed for Boer and black African internees. However, the majority of prisoners of war were sent overseas (25,630 out of the 28,000 Boer men captured during the fighting); the vast majority of locally held Boer prisoners were women and children. The camps were poorly administered, the food rations insufficient to maintain health, standards of hygiene were low, and overcrowding was chronic.[16] Over 26,000 women and children died in the camps during the wars.[17]

The camp was constructed in 1900 following the Battle of Paardeberg. It was primarily a concentration camp for civilians, of whom 26,370 Boer women and children, 14,154 black Africans, and 1,421 men died during the camp's existence.[18][19]

The first international convention on prisoners of war was signed at the Hague Peace Conference of 1899. It was widened by the Hague Convention of 1907. The main combatant nations engaged in World War I abided by the convention and treatment of prisoners was generally good.[20] The situation on the eastern front was significantly worse than the western front, with prisoners in Russia at risk from starvation and disease.[21] In total during the war about eight million men were held in prisoner of war camps, with 2.5 million prisoners in German custody, 2.9 million held by the Russian Empire, and about 720,000 held by Britain and France.

Permanent camps did not exist at the beginning of the war. The unexpected large number of prisoners captured in the first days of the war by the German army created an immediate problem. By September 1914, the German army had captured over 200,000 enemy combatants.[22] These first prisoners were held in temporary camps until 1915, by which time the prisoner population had increased to 652,000 living in unsatisfactory conditions. In response, the government began constructing permanent camps both in Germany and the occupied territories.[22] The number of prisoners increased significantly during the war, exceeding one million by August 1915 and 1,625,000 by August 1916, and reaching 2,415,000 by the end of the war.[23]

The International Committee of the Red Cross held a conference in Geneva, Switzerland in September 1917. The conference addressed the war, and the Red Cross addressed the conditions that the civilians were living under, which resembled those of soldiers in prisoner of war camps, as well as "barbed wire disease" (symptoms of mental illness) suffered by prisoners in France and Germany. It was agreed at the conference that the Red Cross would provide prisoners of war with mail, food parcels, clothes, and medical supplies, and that prisoners in France and Germany suffering from "barbed wire disease" should be interned in Switzerland, a neutral country.

A few countries were not on the same terms as Germany and Austria. For example, Hungary believed that harsh conditions would reduce the number of traitors.

The countries in the east continued their fight to help the Red Cross provide support to POWs. At the end of the war, a Franco-German agreement was made that both countries would exchange their prisoners, but the French kept a small number while the Germans released all French prisoners.[24]

Krasnoyarsk in Siberia, Russia, was used after the Russian defeat to the Japanese in the Russo-Japanese war, as a base for military camps to train for future wars. Conditions there were dire and the detainees could be conscripted for war while they lived in concentration camps and prisons. Over 50,000 camp tenants were used for transportation, agriculture, mining and machinery production.

Throughout World War I, captured prisoners of war were sent to various camps including the one in Krasnoyarsk. There was a point[when?] where a large mix of nationalities was together in Krasnoyarsk which included Bulgarians, Czechs, Germans, and Poles. Many prisoners were nationalists, which led to violence within the camp. Militants would be forced to put down the instigators and keep the camp running.[25]

In a joint work of Polish and Russian historians, Karpus and Rezmer estimate the total death toll in all Polish POW camps during the war at 16-17 thousand, while the Russian historian Matvejev estimates it at 18-20 thousand.[27][28]

On the other side of the frontline about 20,000 out of about 51,000 Polish POWs died in Soviet and Lithuanian camps[29]

While the conditions for Soviet prisoners were clearly exposed by the free press in Poland,[29] no corresponding fact-finding about Soviet camps for Polish POWs could be expected from the tightly controlled Soviet press of the time. Available data shows many cases of mistreatment of Polish prisoners. There have been also cases of Polish POWs' being executed by the Soviet army, when no POW facilities were available.[29]

The 1929 Geneva Convention on the Prisoners of War established the certain provisions relative to the treatment of prisoners of war. One requirement was that POW camps were to be open to inspection by authorised representatives of a neutral power.

Article 10 required that POWs should be lodged in adequately heated and lighted buildings where conditions were the same as their own troops.

Articles 27-32 detailed the conditions of labour. Enlisted ranks were required to perform whatever labour they were asked and able to do, so long as it was not dangerous and did not support the captor's war effort. Senior Non-commissioned officers (sergeants and above) were required to work only in a supervisory role. Commissioned officers were not required to work, although they could volunteer. The work performed was largely agricultural or industrial, ranging from coal or potash mining, stone quarrying, or work in saw mills, breweries, factories, railway yards, and forests. POWs hired out to military and civilian contractors and were paid $.80 per day in script in U.S. camps. The workers were also supposed to get at least one day per week of rest.

Article 76 ensured that PoWs who died in captivity were honourably buried in marked graves.

Not all combatants applied the provisions of the convention. In particular the Empire of Japan, which had signed but never ratified the convention,[30] was notorious for its treatment of prisoners; this poor treatment occurred in part because the Japanese viewed surrender as dishonourable. Prisoners from all nations were subject to forced labour, beatings, murder, and even medical experimentation. Rations fell short of the minimum required to sustain life, and many were forced into labour. After March 20, 1943, the Imperial Navy was under orders to execute all prisoners taken at sea.[31]

The Great Escape from Stalag Luft III, on the night of March 24, 1944, involved the escape of 76 Allied servicemen, although only three were able to avoid recapture.[32]

The Cowra breakout, on August 5, 1944, is believed to be the largest escape of POWs in recorded history and possibly the largest prison breakout ever. At least 545 Japanese POWs attempted to escape from a camp near Cowra, New South Wales, Australia. Most sources say that 234 POWs were killed or committed suicide. The remainder were recaptured.

After World War I, when around 40 million civilians and prisoners could not be saved, the Red Cross was entrusted with more rights and responsibilities. In the course of World War II, it provided millions of Red Cross parcels to Allied POWs in Axis prison camps; most of these contained food and personal hygiene items, while others held medical kits. A special "release kit" parcel was also provided to some newly released POWs at the war's end. During the United States' call for war on Japan, the Red Cross stepped up to provide services for the soldiers overseas. A large amount of provisions were needed for the soldiers in World War II over the 4 years that the Americans were involved. The American Red Cross and thirteen million volunteers had donated in the country with an average weekly donation of 111,000 pints of blood. Nurses, doctors and volunteer workers worked on the front lines overseas to provide for the wounded and the needy. This program saved over thousands of lives as plasma donations were delivered to the camps and bases. However, the Red Cross only accepted donations from white Americans and excluded those of Japanese, Italian, German and Negroes[need quotation to verify]. To combat this, activists tried to fight such segregation back home with arguments that blood of Whites and blood of Blacks is the same.[24]

Leading up to war, Japan was slowly establishing itself as a superpower, but the country was much too small, and therefore they needed more resources. The Japanese attacked countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, China (annexing Manchuria) and the Philippines. Before attacking Pearl Harbor, the Japanese had attacked Thailand and captured an area defended by 10,000 British and Indian troops in Malaya. They attacked Pearl Harbor which led to the United States declaring war against them. In 1942, they had taken Hong Kong and set up camps along Kowloon. China was not nearly as advanced in technology at the time but put up strong resistance to the Japanese advance. From there they dominated Asia. It was said[by whom?] that the Japanese were fighting for the Asiatic and "yellow races" against "White Supremacy".[citation needed]

The camps the Japanese ran were brutal, and many prisoners died in these camps. The Japanese believed it was shameful to be captured alive in combat. The warrior spirit was a Japanese field army code that was celebrated in January 1941, which states that an individual must calmly face death. Those who disobeyed orders would be sentenced to death by the symbolic Japanese sword. The sword was seen as a symbol of wisdom and perseverance to the Japanese, and it was an honor to die by it.

In the camps, prisoners were forced to do physical labour such as building bridges, erecting forts, and digging trenches in preparation for defense. These prisoners did not have much to eat, and they had little if any clothing. Some of the guards were so brutal that they would answer requests for water with their fists or rifle butts. If prisoners were seen as no use, physically weak, or rebellious, they would be killed. At the end of the war, when the camp inmates were released, many had lost body parts, and many were starved and resembled walking skeletons. Some prisoners feared death from the Americans dropping bombs on the camps rather than at Japanese hands. Mental illness affected prisoners traumatized by the sheer brutality of guards.

According Lieutenant Colonel Phillip Toosey, who shared his experiences in the camps, the Japanese committed brutal atrocities. Some of these included filling a prisoner's nose with water while the guards tied them with barbed wire, then they would stand on the prisoners, stepping on the wires. Or the guards would tie a prisoner on a tree by their thumbs, with their toes barely touching the ground, and leave them there for two days without food or water. After the two days of torture, the prisoner would be jailed until death. The bodies would later be burnt.[citation needed]

In many cases, survivors of camps were traumatized or ended up living with a disability. Many survivors went home or to other areas of the world to have a successful life as a businessmen, or they would devote themselves to helping poor people or people in the camps who were in need of support.

The Japanese camps totalled the most deaths out of any prisoner of war camps. The Red Cross had not dropped any parcels into these camps because they were too well defended to fly over.[34]

The Second World War was mainly fought in Europe and western Russia, East Asia, and the Pacific; there were no invasions of Canada. The few prisoners of war sent to Canada included Japanese and German soldiers, captured U-boat crews, and prisoners from raids such as Dieppe and Normandy.

The camps meant for German POWs were smaller than those meant for Japanese prisoners and were far less brutal. German prisoners generally benefitted from good food. However, the hardest part was surviving the Canadian winters. Most camps were isolated and located in the far north. Death and sickness caused by the elements was common.

Many camps were only lightly watched, and as such, many Germans attempted escape. Tunnelling was the most common method. Peter Krug, an escapee from a prison located in Bowmanville, Ontario, managed to escape along the railroads, using forests as cover. He made his way to Toronto, where he then travelled to Texas.

Fighting, sometimes to the death, was somewhat common in the camps. Punishments for major infractions could include death by hanging. German POWs wore shirts with a large red dot painted on the back, an easily identifiable mark outside the camps. Therefore, escapees could be easily found and recaptured.[35]

Japanese in Canada

In the wake of the Japanese attacking Hong Kong, the Philippines and Pearl Harbor in which 2000 Canadians were involved, Canadians put a large focus onto Japanese-Canadians even though innocent. Japan seemed to be able to attack along the Pacific and Canada could potentially be next. Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King implemented the War Measure Act and Defense of Canada Regulations therefore they could not get involved with Canadian services along with the Italians and Germans. The Japanese were stripped of possessions as they were auctioned off later on. The intense cold winters made it hard to live as the Japanese were placed in camps; these campers were made of Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Canadians. They lived in barns and stables which were used for animals, therefore unsanitary. It took 5 years after the war for the Japanese to gain their rights. Compensations were given but was not enough to cover for the loss of properties. Over 22,000 Japanese were put into these camps.[36]

In many POW camps, cigarettes were widely used as currency known as 'commodity money'. They performed the functions of money as a medium of exchange, because they were generally accepted among the prisoners for settling payments or debts, and the function of money as a unit of account, because prices of other goods were expressed in terms of cigarettes. Compared with other goods, the supply of cigarettes was more stable, as they were rationed in the POW camps, and cigarettes were more divisible, portable, and homogeneous.[38]

The International Red Cross visited U.N. POW camps, often unannounced, noting prisoner hygiene, quality of medical care, variety of diet and weight gain. They talked to the prisoners and asked for their comments on conditions, as well as providing them with copies of the Geneva Convention. The IRC delegates dispersed boots, soap and other requested goods.

Koje-do Island - a prison camp where over 170,000 communist and non-communist prisoners were held from December 1950 until June 1952. Throughout 1951 and early 1952, upper-level communist agents infiltrated and conquered much of Koje section-by-section by uniting fellow communists, bending dissenters to their will through staged trials and public executions, and exporting allegations of abuse to the international community to benefit the communist negotiation team. In May 1952, Chinese and North Korean prisoners at Koje Island rioted and took Brigadier General Francis T. Dodd captive.[39]

In 1952 the camp's administration was afraid that the prisoners would riot and demonstrate on May Day (a day honoring Communism) and so U.S. navy ships (such as the USS Gunston Hall (LSD-5)) removed 15,000 North Korean and Chinese prisoners from the island and moved them to prison facilities at Ulsan and Cheju-do. These ships also participated in Operation Big Switch in September 1953 when prisoners were exchanged at the end of the war.[citation needed]

The Chinese operated three types of POW camps during the Korean war. Peace camps housed POWs who were sympathetic to communism, reform camps were intended for skilled POWs who were to be indoctrinated in communist ideologies and the third type was the normal POW camps. Chinese policy did not allow for the exchange of prisoners in the first two camp types.[40]

While these POW Camps were designated numerically by the communists, the POWs often gave the camps a name.

Camp 1 - Changsong - near Camp 3 on the Yalu River.

Camp 2 - Pyoktong - on the Yalu River.

Camp 3 - Changsong - near Camp 1 on the Yalu River.

Camp 4 - north of Camp 2

Camp 5 - near Pyoktong.

Camp 6 - P'yong-yang

Camp 7 - near Pyoktong.

Camp 8 - Kangdong

Camp 9 - P'yong-yang.

Camp 10 - Chon ma

Camp 11 - Pukchin

Camp 12 - P'yong-yang- (Peace Camp) was located in the northwestern vicinity of the capitol. Nearby were several other camps including PAK's Palace.

Bean Camp - Suan

Camp DeSoto - P'yong-yang locale - The camp was near to Camp 12.

Pak's Palace Camp - P'yong-yang locale - Located in the northern most area near the Capitol. The camp was near Camp 12.[citation needed]

By the end of 1965, Viet Cong suspects, prisoners of war, and even juvenile delinquents were mixed together in South Vietnamese jails and prisons. After June 1965, the prison population steadily rose, and by early 1966, there was no space to accommodate additional prisoners in the existing jails and prisons. In 1965, plans were made to construct five POW camps, each with an initial capacity of 1,000 prisoners and to be staffed by the South Vietnamese military police, with U.S. military policemen as prisoner of war advisers assigned to each stockade.[citation needed]

Cloyd, Benjamin G. Haunted by Atrocity: Civil War Prisons in American Memory (Louisiana State University Press; 2010) 272 pages.traces shifts in Americans' views of the brutal treatment of soldiers in both Confederate and Union prisons, from raw memories in the decades after the war to a position that deflected responsibility.